Picking Up The Pieces
by wintersongs
Summary: "She tore her gaze away from his, afraid that what she'd see there would affirm her worst nightmares. That maybe, he never wanted to come back. That maybe, he didn't need her as much as she needed him." A short fanfic based throughout the brotherhood series. Rated T for Ed's lack of filter. [EdWin]
1. Emergency Maintenance

**Wooo! So, I've been sitting on this one for a long time really, trying to figure out how I wanted to play this out and figured that I'd make it a shorter fanfic, maybe two or three chapters long, but packed with lots of EdWin action. Basically it's all EdWin action, so if you don't like that, don't read it. Or read it. Whatever floats your boat. I've just been shipping these two harder than life for the past few days and needed to get some of it out of my system.**

 **Title:** Picking Up the Pieces  
 **Series:** Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood  
 **Rating:** T (for language) - may be changed later depending on the degree of citrus  
 **Pairing:** EdWin  
 **Summary:** A short fanfic based throughout the Brotherhood series, in which Ed says something a little insensitive to Winry, and she's afraid he's going to make good on his promise.  
 **Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA or anything associated with it. Just writing this for shits and gigs folks.

 **Please review so I know it's not a _total_ bomb! ****Remember, I love your feedback, but please extinguish the flames before leaving them in my reviews :) Don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism, though! I love to see how I can adapt my work and become a better writer!**

* * *

"Edward, what have you done to my automail!" she cried out. Winry had never seen it in such a state. It was completely ruined, incapable of being fixed. His leg had sustained less damage, though his recent growth spurt meant that his leg was going to need an extension. She'd have to make a completely new limb, in addition to adjusting the other.

They'd just been through a rather traumatic fight against Scar that left Ed's automail dysfunctional, Al's armor body in shambles, and their world turned on its side. The fight hadn't fallen in their favor, until Mustang and his team had stepped in, just in time. Ed didn't like to think of what would have happened if that bastard Colonel hadn't shown up. So there they were, back in Resembool for maintenance and much needed rest. After a flying wrench to the skull and some bickering for old time's sake, Ed truly felt that he'd returned home.

And just as he'd predicted, Winry would be pleased to see them, but less than pleased to see the condition their bodies were in.

"Yeah, sorry," Ed said nervously. "It's a little smashed up."

" _A little smashed up!_ " she mimicked, clearly enraged. "You've completely trashed it!"

"Not completely. It's basically the same as it was before, just in smaller pieces," he said nonchalantly, sipping from his cup of coffee. He seemed satisfied with his answer. Winry contemplated dislocating his automail leg and beating him with it. Profusely.

"Ed, what the hell happened that could have wrecked your arm like this?"

Winry turned to him as she asked the question, hoping that he would give her something, anything, that would clue her into what the boys had been doing in Central. For a moment, his face darkened, and she knew he wasn't going to confide in her. Her oldest friend, the boy she'd been raised with her entire life, wouldn't tell her what had happened to him. He never did.

"It's not indestructible," she continued. "You can't just keep doing whatever it is that you're doing and expect to come out in one piece Edward!"

"Yeah, yeah. If it was indestructible I wouldn't be here right now, would I?" he spit back, turning his golden gaze on her.

Somehow, she felt like he was blaming her, even though she knew he wasn't. When angry, Edward had a tendency to say whatever was on his mind without filtering his thoughts; and since she'd known him his entire life, Winry knew this best. Most of the time his words hurt her, they were unintentional. She could sense his frustration, the eagerness to travel back to Central. Or maybe he was just eager to leave Resembool.

Either way, it meant he would leave her.

 _Again._

And suddenly, she was infuriated.

With herself, for not making automail that was strong enough to endure what he was doing in Central. Because that meant that the small piece of herself he took with her everywhere he went didn't do its job correctly. It didn't protect him the way she had wanted it to. If it was stronger, then he wouldn't have had to come back to a place that burdened him with bittersweet memories.

For not being strong enough to show him a brave face. She hated that she didn't know what he was doing in Central, what kind of danger he was getting himself into, and she was worried that one day, if he wasn't careful, he might hurt himself beyond repair.

And then she was angry at him.

For wrecking her automail and acting like an insensitive jerk all the time.

For never writing or calling, even if it was just to say hello, or that he was _alive_.

For making her wait, even though she didn't want to.

She wanted to lash out at him, make him feel her frustration and pain. But she knew he was already burdened with his own demons; he didn't need hers too. So she'd have to settle for something a little bit different.

"Let's just hope your head is more durable than that arm then," she gritted out, and wacked him in the temple with her heaviest wrench.

" _Winry, what the hell!"_ he shouted, rubbing his temple with his flesh hand. "You're gonna kill me before I can figure out a way to get mine and Al's bodies back!"

"No, Edward! If you keep up this- _this recklessness_ , you're going to beat me to it! You're not indestructible Ed! Haven't you realized that yet? I can't always fix everything up!" Her blue eyes flashed with irritation, and her cheeks heated as their argument spanned on. She knew she was being dramatic, that she probably shouldn't be doing this, but she couldn't stop. Once the words came out, there was no going back. They both knew this would only end with one of them getting hurt.

"I know that Winry! Okay? I get it!" he shouted back in a tone that wasn't to be argued with. But Winry had long since heeded that warning. So she kept goading him.

"No, I don't think you do. You wreck my automail, waltz up to the shop for maintenance, if that's what I can even call it with your automail in this state, and then repeat the process again a few weeks later! At this rate, I should just be making spare limbs for you so we don't have to deal with you coming back here every damn time something happens to-"

"Great idea," he spat sardonically. "Then I wouldn't have to deal with you nagging me every time I-"

"Nagging you! You have no idea how badly I could nag you, Edward! You need a healthy dose of nagging to snap you back into reality. One day I might not be here to fix you again, and then what will you do, huh?"

"I'll just go find some other damn mechanic!" He could feel the reigns of his control slipping as their argument became more heated. Winry always knew just what to say to get on his nerves. He was convinced that if he didn't die trying to restore his brother and himself into their original bodies, Winry would nag him right into his grave.

"Oh yeah?," Winry sneered. "Who would take a _little_ , arrogant, runt like-"

"Who are you calling little?" he yelled, but Winry continued ranting as if he hadn't even spoken.

"-you as a customer? Not every mechanic is as willing to perform emergency maintenance at the drop of the hat like we are, Ed."

"And not every mechanic is as much of a raging bitch as you are Winry!"

At that, Winry stopped speaking, moving, _breathing_ , and just stared at Edward. He'd stood up in the middle of their fight, though she couldn't pinpoint when it had happened. Everything seemed like a blur, except for his eyes. She noted that he must have grown several inches since she'd last saw him, or last paid any attention to his height, since their eyes were now level with each other.

Maybe a second had passed since he'd finished speaking, maybe a few. It was enough time for Winry to reach into her back pocket and grasp the weapon she desired, and enough time for Edward to anticipate what was about to happen.

"Winry, I swear, if you hit me with that wrench one more time, I will _never_ come back."

His tone was low and harsh, but she couldn't tell if it was an empty threat. She tore her gaze away from his, afraid that what she'd see there would affirm her worst nightmares.

That maybe, he never wanted to come back.

That maybe, he didn't need her as much as she needed him.

So she turned back to her work table and made herself busy with the leftover pieces of his desecrated arm, hearing the familiar scrape of automail against wood floors as Ed shuffled out of the room. She kept tinkering with the metal pieces, as if she could piece together everything that had fallen apart.

* * *

The next two days passed by uneventfully. Winry and Ed kept their distance from each other.

Winry shut herself in her workshop, building Ed's new automail arm, taking breaks only when necessary.

Ed visited his mother's grave, as well as his old home, and explored the town to see the changes in Resembool in his long absence.

Al, Pinako, and Armstrong noticed the tense atmosphere when the two happened to wander in for dinner at the same time that night. Winry had taken a break from working, and Ed had sauntered in from his walk when Pinako had told them that they better sit down and eat while the food was still warm. Both had no excuse to skip dinner, so begrudgingly, they sat down at the table, Ed across from Armstrong, Winry seated to his left at the head of the table. In the middle of their meal, he'd asked her to pass the salt, and she'd used her wrist to slide the shaker to him, neither really acknowledging the other's existence.

The other three occupants of the dining table forced conversation, while Ed and Winry remained mute through their meal, until Winry finished, stood, and uttered one sentence to Ed.

"Your automail will be done by tomorrow morning, so pack tonight."

And it was the closest he'd ever felt to being unwelcome in the Rockbell home.

* * *

To say reattaching Edward's arm was awkward would be an understatement. It meant that they couldn't avoid each other anymore, or what they had said to each other.

Regret rolled off both of them in palpable waves. Neither wanted to say goodbye with unresolved tension between them, but neither felt they should be the first to apologize. And that was their problem.

So their day continued on, and they skirted around each other like repelling magnets. The time for their departure grew closer and closer, until it was time for Edward, Alphonse, and Major Armstrong to leave.

Pinako and Winry stood before the house at sunset, waiting for their three guests to emerge from the house so they could say their goodbyes. Winry stared out to the horizon, willing the train that would take her friends away from her again to stop coming, even though she knew it wouldn't stop Edward and Alphonse from leaving her. They would find another way; they always do.

"You should make amends with him before he leaves," Pinako said softly from beside Winry. She could hear Den barking inside the house, most likely expecting a round of fetch outside with Alphonse when he noticed the suit of armor walking outside.

Winry gave her grandmother a look that said, _none of your business, b_ ut she knew her grandmother was right, she just didn't want to admit it.

So she hugged Alphonse, shook Armstrong's hand, and let her eyes meet Ed's one last time before he left.

She was sure that her emotions were written all over her face, but she was surprised to see the swell of emotion on his.

"Be safe," she said when she could no longer stand the silence.

He gave her a sad smile, and she could feel her face mimicking his. This was the closest thing to an apology either was willing to give.

"Bye, Winry," he said, and turned to join the others as they walked down the dirt road, away from the house. Away from Winry.

And suddenly she was running.

"Ed!"

As he turned at the sound of his name, she crashed into him, arms winding tightly around his neck, face buried in his neck. She could feel the tears burning behind her eyelids, but she didn't care. She didn't really care that he was unresponsive for a moment, because eventually, he wrapped his arms around her too. She didn't really care that they were all awkward limbs, metal and flesh. All she cared about was that he was warm, and _alive_. He didn't have to come back to Resembool if it meant he would be just that.

And that's when Winry realized just how much she _cared_ about the boy in her arms.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, and look forward to the next chapter :)**


	2. Central Visit

**Title:** Picking Up the Pieces  
 **Series:** Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood  
 **Rating:** T (for language) - may be changed later depending on the degree of citrus  
 **Pairing:** EdWin  
 **Summary:** A short fanfic based throughout the Brotherhood series, in which Ed says something a little insensitive to Winry, and she's afraid he's going to make good on his promise.  
 **Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA or anything associated with it. Just writing this for shits and gigs folks.

 **A/N: Yay, another chapter up, one more to go! Though, I've gotta admit, this isn't really going the way I'd planned. So, in the forseable future, I may update these chapters a bit and change the story line around, but for now, I give you chapter two of "Picking Up The Pieces"**

 **Enjoy and review! (Thanks to those who have reviewed so far, you're awesome!)**

* * *

Edward could feel his best friend's anger through the telephone as he explained his request. His right arm was busted again, and he was hoping Winry would make a service call to Central for emergency maintenance. To his surprise, she'd agreed with little resistance, though she made up for it with her temper.

Seeing her would be worth the beating he'd receive for desecrating his automail again.

"You ruined my automail again, you moron! When I get to Central, you're in for it, alchemy freak!" she'd shrieked. Ed cringed and pulled the receiver away from his ear, giving her time to get her out of her system. When he returned the receiver to his ear, he was met with silence.

"Winry, you still there?"

He heard her sigh softly in his ear, and felt a warm heat spread over his neck and cheeks. Hearing Winry's voice so close had disoriented him more than usual. His mind instantly took him back to their last goodbye, when she had clung to him so tightly, every part of her body pressing against his and-

 _Not the time, Ed_ , he scolded himself. _Definitely, not the time._

"Just tell me how to get there, Ed."

* * *

After the initial shock of seeing Ed in a hospital bed, bandages wrapped around his torso and head, had subsided, Winry went to work. They'd gone through this routine so many times, she didn't even have to ask Ed to position his body anymore, he knew exact what to do. So there was no reason for him to feel flustered or nervous, but Ed couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something was different this time.

Winry was overpowering his senses. She was touching him everywhere, her fingertips dusting over his collarbones, light as a feather. Who knew that a mechanic's touch could be so soft? And her hair; though the majority of her blonde locks were held back in a black band, stray pieces brushed over the exposed skin of his chest, scattering goose bumps in its trail.

She was invading his vision: everywhere he looked, she was there. Or rather, he couldn't stop looking at her. When had she gotten so pretty? It was like she'd become _a girl_ over the past few years without Ed noticing until that moment. Her face had definitely matured; she'd lost some of the innocent roundness he'd tease her for relentlessly as children, her lips seemed fuller, and they looked soft as satin. Ed could only imagine how they might feel against his own. But that was a thought he needed to rid his mind of, _quickly._

Her scent was something else entirely, and he couldn't avoid its ambush as she leaned over him to tighten screws on his shoulder. She smelled familiar, like grease and Winry, and something else. Citrus, maybe?

"You smell nice."

The words had left his mouth before his mind could process what had come out. Winry sat back and looked at him skeptically, as if she was expecting some sort of follow-up joke at her expense.

"Stop looking at me like that, Winry! Jeez, can't a guy compliment a girl once in a while?"

"You never compliment me, Ed. It's strange." She pushed a wayward piece of hair back from her face and tried to tuck it behind her ear, only to have it fall forward into her eyes again.

"Well, I'm doing it now!" He huffed and tried to cross his arms, but since only one of his arms was mobile, it just ended up flopping against his chest listlessly.

"Thank you," she said from beside him, so softly that he wasn't sure if he had imagined it until he looked at her face to see a light blush sweep over her cheekbones and a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Ed wished he could bottle that image and keep it tucked safely away with him for the rest of his life. When he started feeling his face warm, he looked away, and Winry resumed her ministrations on his arm. He couldn't believe he was reacting like this over _Winry_.

 _Winry_ , who he'd shared a bath with, multiple times, as a toddler. _Winry_ , who he'd climbed trees and had mud fights with. _Winry_ , the tomboy, was turning into a woman.

And Ed didn't know how to feel about it.

Alphonse saved him from his thoughts as he made his way into the room, followed by a familiar face.

"Yo, Ed my boy! Is it true you brought a pretty blonde girl into your room to service you?" Hughes shouted, loud enough for the entire wing of the hospital to hear.

Embarrassed beyond compare, Ed vehemently denied Hughes' statement. "She's my automail mechanic! That's all, nothing more!"

"Oh, I see. You've seduced your mechanic, have you?"

Ed could tell this hospital stay would be beyond uncomfortable.

* * *

When Winry returned to the hospital the next day to put some last minute touches on Ed's automail, she found him to be in one of his sour moods. She could only guess that being forced to rest in bed for the past few days has made him stir crazy, and she seemed to be right. He was testy, and all too-willing to vent that frustration into arguing with Winry. There were no others in the room, since Ed and Winry scared off Alphonse, Ross and Brosh when the insults started flying. They were too focused on each other that they didn't even notice.

"It's not my fault your automail crapped out on me! It just stopped working, how is that my fault?"

"Oh, so now it's my automail?" Winry retorted. Ed always knew which buttons to push, but she knew for a fact that this time, it _was_ her fault. She'd forgotten to insert a screw when she installed his new arm, but if he had tested his automail the way she showed him, he would have noticed.

"Maybe, if you kept up with your maintenance while you were away, this wouldn't have happened!"

"I did!"

Winry gave him a look.

"Okay, I didn't!"

"If you don't make some adjustments this will happen again, Ed! You need to be more careful!"

Winry felt like they were having the same argument, over and over again. Their last argument in Resembool was too heated for Winry, and left them both feeling upset and hurt. Things were tense between the two, and she hated it. The way Ed had squirmed while she worked on his arm yesterday was proof of her worries. He was uncomfortable around her now, and they couldn't seem to carry a conversation the way they used to. Tempers flared, hurtful words were passed between them, and neither apologized. It was taking a toll on their friendship. Ed was her _best friend_. She couldn't lose him, _ever_.

A part of her wished that he could be more, but she knew he wasn't ready for that admission. He was too focused on getting Al back in his own body, that he didn't even care about himself or what he wanted.

So Winry would wait. Just like she always did.

"Jeez, Winry. You really get on my nerves sometimes."

She felt her heart constrict in her chest. It was so easy for him to hurt her. He didn't even know he was doing it, really. She'd heard those words, thousands of times, under multiple different circumstances. But none hit her as hard as this time. He sounded so tired.

Of her.

Feeling the familiar sting of tears in her eyes, she blinked them back fiercely and stayed quiet, afraid that if she spoke, her voice would crack and give her away. The last thing she wanted was to look weak in front of Ed; that would just give him more incentive to keep her in the dark. She knew he worried about her, but she didn't know why he kept everything from her. Wouldn't it be easier for him to share his burdens with someone? She wanted him to rely on her more, but crying would get them no where. So she sucked in a breath, tightened her grip on the wrench handle, and began to lift it, when she remembered his promise from their last meeting.

 _Winry, I swear, if you hit me with that wrench one more time, I will never come back._

She released her grip on the wrench as if it had burnt her, feeling the blood drain from her face. That sentence haunted her for weeks following her best friend's departure from Resembool. She'd had the same dream, multiple times, about Ed walking down the dirt road away from the Rockbell shop, never flinching or looking back at the sound of Winry's broken voice, calling his name, pleading with him to return. She'd wake to a tear stained face, her body trembling as if she'd gone into shock.

Winry quickly lunged to pick up the fallen tool, as if grabbing it quick enough would mean it didn't happen, that Ed didn't see it. But he did, and his face twisted into a mask of concern.

"Win, are you alri-"

"I'm fine, Ed. Just shut up. I don't feel like arguing with you anymore."

And that was the end of their fight. Winry adjusted a few screws, oiled his joints, and wrote him a clean bill of health. His 'thank you' fell on deaf ears, as Winry threw her belongings into the tool box, and nearly sprinted out the door. She knew that if she spent another moment in that room with him, the waterworks would begin.

So she ran, down the wing of the hospital, through the streets of Central, to Hughes' house, where she crawled into bed under the blankets, and let the tears flow freely, wondering if things would ever be normal between them again.

* * *

 **A/N: Review and let me know what you think! I love your feedback!**


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